Choose a test centre to explore recorded fault categories. These counts can help structure a conversation about observation, control and planning alongside your own lesson feedback.
A single test can record several faults, including more than one type. Counts are not numbers of failed tests or your chance of committing a fault. The attachment does not supply matching test denominators for a fault-rate calculation.
We use explicitly labelled January and February 2026 rows in DVSA’s July 2026 response. Later and unlabelled repeated blocks are excluded. A centre may have only one of these months; missing observations are not zero.
Use the figures alongside feedback from a qualified instructor. A recorded category does not identify a test route, exact junction or guaranteed manoeuvre. Historical category names are retained, including legacy labels.
313 unambiguously matched statistical centres. The source contains 314 named centre records; unmatched names remain in the downloadable data.
Sorted by serious-fault count, then dangerous-fault count. The driving-fault column is a separate severity category.
| Published fault category | Serious | Dangerous | Driving faults |
|---|---|---|---|
| Junctions - observation | 290 | 71 | 701 |
| Mirrors - change direction | 235 | 52 | 479 |
| Response to signs - traffic lights | 165 | 14 | 255 |
| Response to signs - road markings | 123 | 8 | 250 |
| Maintain progess - speed | 116 | 0 | 1,130 |
| Move off - safely | 111 | 9 | 1,047 |
| Junctions - turning right | 105 | 4 | 235 |
| Control - steering | 92 | 20 | 929 |
| Judgement - crossing | 76 | 46 | 96 |
| Reverse park - Control | 73 | 9 | 611 |
| Response to signs - traffic signs | 68 | 3 | 125 |
| Maintain progress - undue hesitation | 64 | 0 | 1,205 |
| Use of speed | 58 | 0 | 321 |
| Move off - control | 57 | 6 | 654 |
| Judgement - meeting | 53 | 12 | 300 |
| Positioning - normal driving | 53 | 4 | 409 |
| Pedestrian crossing | 49 | 11 | 74 |
| Awareness/planning | 38 | 9 | 387 |
| Reverse right - Observation | 38 | 1 | 140 |
| Reverse park - Observatons | 35 | 3 | 188 |
| Mirrors - change speed | 31 | 4 | 356 |
| Clearance / obstructions | 30 | 20 | 317 |
| Reverse right - Control | 22 | 1 | 76 |
| Position - normal stops | 20 | 0 | 374 |
| Taxi/Forward Park cont | 18 | 2 | 211 |
| Judgement - overtaking | 18 | 1 | 46 |
| Junctions - approach speed | 15 | 3 | 452 |
| Signals - necessary | 12 | 4 | 247 |
| Control - gears | 12 | 0 | 369 |
| Signals - correctly | 10 | 1 | 438 |
| Following distance | 9 | 6 | 209 |
| Response to signs - other road users | 9 | 0 | 43 |
| Taxi/Forward Park obs | 8 | 1 | 61 |
| Positioning - lane discipline | 7 | 1 | 106 |
| Control Stop - Promptness | 7 | 0 | 38 |
| Vehicle checks | 5 | 1 | 405 |
| Junctions - cutting corners | 5 | 0 | 41 |
| Control - Footbrake | 3 | 3 | 237 |
| Signals - timed | 3 | 1 | 322 |
| Control - parking brake | 3 | 0 | 35 |
| Response to signs - traffic controllers | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Mirrors - signalling | 2 | 0 | 444 |
| Control - accelerator | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| Junctions - turning left | 1 | 0 | 23 |
| Ancillary controls | 0 | 0 | 24 |
| Control - balance | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Control - clutch | 0 | 0 | 48 |
| Controlled stop - Control | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ECO Driving | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Eyesight | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Highway Code | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Precautions | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Reverse left - Control | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Reverse left - Observation | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Turn in road - Control | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Turn in road - Observations | 0 | 0 | 0 |
DVSA FOI response 2606-112694 and Annex H, published 1 July 2026. Our download preserves the source categories, per-month counts, original-file checksum and exclusions. Crown copyright information is reused under the default Open Government Licence; no individual test or candidate records are included.